Government to tie passing of two bills to confidence vote
The government has decided to tie two bills currently in Riigikogu proceedings to a vote of confidence in the cabinet and will propose conducting the bills' second readings and passing them into law on February 13.
Tied to a vote of confidence in the government will be amendments to the Classified Information of Foreign States Act and the Public Information Act, as well as amendments to the Waste Act, Packaging Act and Tobacco Act.
The aim of the first package of amendments is to ensure national security and foreign communication while protecting classified information from falling into the hands of individuals without proper security clearance. The bill aims to update requirements for working with classified information and introduce new regulation governing paperless principles, methods and aids.
The bill expands the decision-making capacity of information creators in terms of removing classified status of information prematurely. Heads of security agencies and the Estonian Defense Forces would be given the right to decide whether to declassify information sooner. The same right will be extended to ministers and the state secretary over information created in the administrative area of ministries or the Government Office.
The procedure of giving persons not in public service access to classified information will also be rendered more flexible.
The other bill is aimed at avoiding negative environmental effects created by single-use plastic products and adopting a corresponding EU directive. Changes concern marketing restrictions for single-use plastic products, reduced consumption, manufacturer's responsibility, consumer awareness and waste sorting.
The bill aims to reduce single-use plastic products consumption by 2026. For example, food and drink can only be served in reusable containers at public events starting January 1, 2024. By the year 2029, 90 percent of single-use plastic drink bottles need to be sorted.
Both bills were initiated by the Government of the Republic.
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Editor: Marko Tooming, Marcus Turovski